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Happy Birthday, Two Monkees!

I have seen, photographed, and partied with three of the four members of The Monkees. And of all of them, I spent the most time with Davy Jones. He was born December 30, 1945 in Manchester, England. Sadly, he passed away on February 29, 2012 in Stuart, Florida.

Besides being an accomplished actor and musician, Mr. Jones was an avid horse racer as well as an author. In 1987, he wrote his biography, The Made a Monkee out of Me. And in 2000, an update to his biography, Davy Jones: Daydream Believin’ was released. (By the way, one of my sister’s photos is featured in the second book!)

When his second book was released, he did a small book signing tour. My sister, my children, and I went to see him at a mall in Connecticut. We got there early, and the guards kept telling everyone in line that they could take photos while Davy was signing their book, but that they had to keep the line moving and no one would be allowed to ask Mr. Jones to pose or stop to take photos with him.

So when Michelle, Stefani, Jeremy, and I got to the front of the line, Davy jumped out of his seat and ran to hug us! He took my camera off my arm and thrust it at my daughter then said, “Rachel, Michelle, come get a photo with me. We never get any photos together.” He looked at Stefani and said, “You know how to work your mom’s camera, right?”

Meanwhile, a security guard came over and scowled at us. “I told you there would be no photos with Mr. Jones! I’m so sorry, Mr. Jones, I tried to tell them. Girls, you need to get out of line! Your turn is over!”

He took Michelle and me by the arms, then Davy bowed up his chest and said, “No, I told them to! These are friends of mine.” He turned back to Stefani and said, “Go ahead, Honey, take the photo. Then I’ll get one with you and your brother. Why don’t you have your mom bring you out to the house so you can ride my horses later.”

Michelle, Davy & Me

After we were done, my kids hugged him and said, “Thanks, Uncle Davy!” And we all just smirked at the stupid guard who tried to eject us.

Stefani, Davy & Jeremy

Happy Birthday, Davy! May you rest in peace!

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Happy Birthday, Michael Nesmith!

Mike Nesmith is the Monkee that I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing in person. He was born on December 30, 1942, in Houston, Texas. There is all kinds of interesting trivia about Mr. Nesmith’s life, such as how his mother invented Liquid Paper. He created a television program called PopClips which was sold to TimeWarner and then developed into MTV. He’s been involved in numerous musical collaborations, he’s written songs for several other artists, he’s produced films, and he developed one of the pioneer home video markets.

He’s also had some really weird stuff happen to him over the course of his life. In 1967, after he had his tonsils removed, they were stolen by a nurse who was a fan! And in the 1980s, a man who looked very much like him went to Australia and did several interviews posing as him! The imposter’s scam was actually not discovered until much later, and he was sent to jail in 2009.

But besides being an accomplished businessman and a former Monkee, Mr. Nesmith is also an author. He penned The Long Sandy Hair of Neftoon Zamora in 1998. And in 2009, he wrote The America Gene. If you ever saw The Monkees’ movie Head, that had the same kind of “psychedelic” feel as his writing style. As his Facebook friend, I can tell you that he often writes long, fictional, essay-style posts that are so captivating. He definitely has a gift for writing.

Happy Birthday, Papa Nez!

Time to talk: Did you ever watch The Monkees on TV? Did you ever listen to their albums? Did you ever see them in concert? Which Monkee was your favorite?

The Monkees were sort of uncool to those of us convinced of our own coolness; we were more into the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young type of bands, although I did watch when my younger sisters had the show on. Davy always seemed immensely likable and what lovely memories to share with us.

i love me some monkees! when i was little, i told my sisters how dumb they were to like those other bands, the beatles and the doors, as the monkees were clearly the best band ever. mickey was my fav. )